Jon Lawless of First Rate People at the Everest album release show. Photo courtesy of Aaron Mohr.
Thursday night, I attended First Rate People’s launch party for their debut album Everest at The Horseshoe Tavern and went home feeling a little bit more than inspired. The venue was absolutely packed with people traveling from all over the province to support them on their big day.
FRP is a (mostly) Owen Sound-raised, Toronto-based music and art group that can only be fittingly described by the word “eclectic.” The band, made up of a collective of multitalented friends, collaborates in order to bring a superfluity of elements to the table. Their work is then released though Bedroomer, an online-record label showcasing “homemade music from around Toronto.” This is exactly what allows First Rate People to achieve such a distinctive, colourful sound. And memorable- definitely memorable
The night opened up with “Janna”, a song featuring most of the FRP gang alongside catchy hooks, synths, trumpets, and sweet saxophone sounds. From the moment they started playing, it was evident that everyone was connecting with the artists. People danced with whoever happened to be around them, buying each other drinks and basking in the familiar atmosphere. There was such a strong connection between the band and the luminous crowd watching them- it was incredible, it felt like everyone present had been friends for ages. As the night proceeded, the crowd really got a taste of the incredible variety and range that FRP’s music covers. Slow, acoustic ballads were juxtaposed with synth-pop and funk, crystalline female vocals with the smooth-sounding fluidity of male voices. If there’s one thing Everest does, it’s capture all of that.
First Rate People’s album release show was such a strong reassurance that with hard work and an incredible amount of determination, anything can be done. Call it cliché but it’s true. I could see it on their faces as they played the same songs that had started off as a bedroom project, now in front of hundreds of people. Being featured on magazines such as Spin and Exclaim! had never even entered their minds as a possibility a few years ago, but it has become the reality of what they started. That’s the brilliant thing about hard work. There are millions of success stories out there, young people who come up with an idea and follow through with it until it becomes exactly what they’d imagined. First Rate People is a prime example of that. Putting in hours of effort every day has certainly paid off- the band has gained the title of one of Toronto’s best up-and-coming indie bands, and they’re only getting bigger.
A piece of advice to anyone who’s trying to start something from the ground up? Give it your all. It’s the only way to do it.
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